NBA Season Predictions: Cleveland Cavaliers Coach David Blatt Plays Down 'Title Favorite' Tag
The Cleveland Cavaliers were tagged as favorites to win the NBA title in the 2015-16 season, but second-year head coach David Blatt said that season predictions do not mean a lot.
The Cavaliers, who lost to the Golden State Warriors in the 2015 NBA Finals in six games, were picked by more than 50 percent of the voters who participated in the annual NBA.com GM survey. According to ESPN, the Cavaliers are also favorites based on Las Vegas bookmakers.
When asked about being considered as title favorites, Blatt said that they are not putting too much emphasis on season predictions and they will take things one game at a time.
"All the predictions and prognostications, it doesn't mean a whole lot," Blatt said. "Right now we are not as of yet a full team, so it's hard for me to tell you what we are. I know what I think we can be and certainly we can be a contender, but beyond that today? I don't think we got the right to talk too, too much about more than that."
The Cavaliers kept the core of their 2014-15 team that were able to advance to the finals despite injury troubles during the playoffs.
Superstar LeBron James signed a two-year deal worth $47 million with a player option in the second year, while former All-Star Kevin Love inked a five-year contract worth around $113 million.
Aside from Love and James, the Cavaliers also agreed to new deals with Iman Shumpert, J.R. Smith, James Jones and Matthew Dellavedova. Tristan Thompson also secured a five-year deal worth $82 million after a long contract standoff with the Cavaliers during the offseason.
To improve their roster, Cleveland also signed veteran free agents Mo Williams and Richard Jefferson, and also reached a deal with Russian center Sasha Kaun, who is familiar with Blatt's system, as he played for the veteran coach during the 2012 London Olympics.
However, Blatt also pointed out that they have yet to practice as a complete team heading into the season. Thompson missed training camp because of the contract holdout, while Kyrie Irving is still out indefinitely after undergoing knee surgery. James also missed their last four preseason games because of an ailing back.
"We're talking about how we can get everybody on the same page, get all our players back, work hard and try to make day-to-day progress," Blatt said of their mindset heading into the new season. "That's very far down the line and what we're really concerned with is just becoming a good team right now."
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